Summit ’14: Xbox, Conde Nast discuss ‘wild west’ digital landscape

Execs from FremantleMedia, Condé Nast, Xbox and Upwave convened at the Realscreen Summit to discuss the success of original content in the digital landscape, which was described by one speaker as the being the "Wild West."

Executives from FremantleMedia, Condé Nast, Xbox and Upwave convened at the Realscreen Summit to discuss the success of original content on digital platforms.

The ‘Digital Report Card’ session, held on Monday (January 27), revealed that producers behind these initiatives are still figuring out how to cater content to a digital landscape, which was described by one speaker as being the “Wild West.”

“You still have to do a lot of work to build YouTube audiences,” said Vivion, whose company develops original video for shows such as The Tim Ferris Experiment and Cook Your Ass Off. He added that the best approach is to put content everywhere and let audiences know it’s there.

“The value comes in making as many eyeballs see the content as possible,” he added.

“We can steal from traditional TV and linear TV,” said Mark. “We can throw out the rules and not worry about the clock or format… You’re going to be able to do things that you just can’t do with cable networks. I don’t see a downside.”

Over at Condé Nast, Klein develops filmed entertainment businesses based on the company’s brands, which include GQ, Vanity Fair and Vogue.

“You have to take what makes these brands great and package content,” he said, adding that each brand is very different and audiences for their online channels generally skew a little younger. Ultimately, “any programming led by editorially iconic brands is getting premium audiences,” said Klein.

At FremantleMedia North America, Gilman leads the digital team in creating original content such as online pet destination The Pet Collective and TV project The Crew, which is partnered with StyleHaul.com.

She said that Fremantle has learned how to monetize off of YouTube, which has yielded ample business, but still maintains that “some things should live in TV and some things should live in digital.”

About The Author

Daniele Alcinii is a news editor at realscreen, the leading international publisher of non-fiction film and television industry news and content. He joined the RS team in 2015 with experience in journalism following a stint out west with Sun Media in Edmonton's Capital Region, and with communications work in Melbourne, Australia and Toronto. You can follow him on Twitter at @danielealcinii.